Northwest Montana big game harvest totals trend behind 2022

Signs of the “rut” have emerged in Northwest Montana as the general hunting season winds down with less than two weeks remaining.

So far this season, more than 6,300 hunters have appeared at regional game check stations. Harvest results at the regional check stations are slightly down compared to a year ago while the number of hunters reported is slightly higher.

The percent of hunters with game stopping at Region 1 check stations is at 7.5% through four weekends, compared to 8.7% in 2022.

So far, 382 white-tailed deer and 245 white-tailed bucks, 65 mule deer and 29 elk have been harvested in Northwest Montana. Fifteen of the elk were checked at the station on U.S. 2 west of Kalispell, with 11 at the Thompson Falls station.

The general deer and elk hunting season concludes Nov. 26.

Check stations are open on weekends during general deer and elk hunting season from 10 a.m. to approximately 1.5 hours past sunset. The regional stations are located at U.S. 2 West of Kalispell, Montana 83 north of Swan Lake, Montana 200 west of Thompson Falls, and U.S. 93 near Olney.

Hunters must stop at any check station they encounter whether they harvested an animal or not. The counts at the stations represent a sampling of the harvest and do not represent the complete number of animals taken. For an estimate of big game harvests from years’ past, visit https://myfwp.mt.gov/fwpPub/harvestReports.

Other general hunting seasons underway include black bear (Sept. 15-Nov. 26), bighorn sheep (Sept. 15-Nov. 26), moose (Sept. 15-Nov. 26), mountain lion (fall season without dogs, Oct. 22-Nov. 27), mountain goat (Sept. 15-Nov. 26), turkey (Sept. 1-Jan. 1), and wolf (Sept. 15-March 15, 2024).